‣ Fit new “Bob” trailer as we’ve given up hope on the Extra-Wheel Voyager – read review if interested in full story
‣ Change rim on rear wheel of bike as spoke eye-lets starting to pull through and the rim is badly cracked in many places
‣ Strip, clean & re-grease, the bearings in the rear wheel

‣ Rear axle & freewheel causing concern so strip the axle out and tighten up the freewheel onto the wheel-hub. Freewheel was loose & so too were the drive-side cones. Also, the axle had worked its way out toward the drive-side and was uneven.

‣ Another soft tyre on the front, but can’t find the puncture.
‣ Battery in the transmitter-unit for the front speedo ran out, so bought new one – seems to have fixed it.

08-Sep-2011
8,700Kms
Tulcea, Romania

‣ On inspection of rear wheel, noted early signs of cracking on eyelets on about 8 drive-side spokes. New rim ordered from JD Tandems back in UK.

11-Sep-2011
8,990Kms
Kiliia, Romania

‣ Two punctures in the trailer wheel. Caused by thorns – fixed okay

20-Sep-2011
9,668Kms
Sevastopol, Crimea

‣ Re-build rear wheel with new rim after old one cracked significantly
‣ Fit new rear brake-disk (old one buckled by small stick)
‣ Fit new brake-pads to rear wheel (old ones just about run-out & want new ones with new disk) (3rd change)

21-Sep-2011
9,690Kms
nr Sevastopol, Crimea

‣ Fit new brake-pads to front wheel (2nd change)

24-Sep-2011
9,830Kms
Yalta, Crimea

‣ Adjust rear gears on bike
‣ Note that FRAME HAS CRACKED !!

26-Sep-2011
9,850Kms
Yalta, Crimea

‣ Frame welded & ready to roll again

13-Oct-2011
11,025Kms
Elista, Russia

‣ Fix puncture in trailer wheel.

17-Oct-2011
11,300Kms
Tselina, Russia

‣ Fit new brake-pads to front wheel (3rd change, 4th set of pads now in place)

18-Oct-2011
11,450Kms
nr Rostov, Russia

‣ Front wheel puncture – found to be caused by hole in tyre sidewall, so fit new front tyre & new tube (3rd front tyre now fitted)

19-Oct-2011
11,560Kms
Rostov, Russia

‣ Rear tyre on bike develops a bulge. Internal carcass starting to split. Fit new rear tyre … even though no more kms to cover as this is the last day of our 2011 trip (4th rear tyre now fitted)

Nov-2011 to
Apr-2012

‣ Bike & us back in UK, helping family
‣ For 2012 trip, mileage counter originally reset to zero as starting point is back in the UK but in Dec-2014, decided to add in our 2011 kms for consistency across the whole blog site

‣ Buy and fit new rear-derailleur gear cable to try to make gear change easier and route cable differently around axle. Change works brilliantly.

11-Jul-2012
15,673Kms
Moscow, Russia

‣ Fix rear-wheel puncture (caused by piece of wire)
‣ Fit new rear tyre and transfer old to being the spare (a little life still left in the old tyre – then dumped as we bought a new Schwalbe)
‣ Tighten spokes in rear wheel – some non-drive side very loose
‣ Fit new chain as old stretched beyond 0.75 (fitted Wed 18th)
‣ Lube bearings on trailer wheel (sealed bearings – not easily lubed)
‣ Build water carrying trays on back of BOB trailer

‣ Fit new pedals to rear of bike as old ones started to rattle and too much play in bearings
‣ Fit new chain (old one not quite stretched to 0.75 yet)
‣ At a bike shop in Almaty, get the hydraulic brakes topped up with fluid and air released (first time since bike was new) – great job!

05-Sep-2012
18,807Kms
Almaty, Kazakhstan

‣ At bike shop in Almaty, investigate creaking noise in transmission. Mechanic concludes bottom bracket causing noise, but not worn, so tightens up cups holding b/b into frame, and then lubes the cranks before replacing and tightening to very tight. All creaks healed

20-Sep-2012
19,112Kms
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

‣ Wash bike & wash chains & transmission with paraffin & toothbrush, then take bike to carwash for a good clean-up

26-Sep-2012
19,538Kms
Kara-Kol, Kyrgyzstan

‣ Fit new brake-pads to front wheel and ensure pistons not locked (also had to release some brake-fluid as system over-full and wheel not turning with new shoes in). Old shoes with very little meat left, but quite evenly worn
‣ Lubricate & free-up the front V-brake
‣ Check rear brake-pads and ensure pistons not locked (rear shoes nearly worn out)

10-Oct-2012
20,215Kms
Kashgar, China

‣ Strip and clean rear hub
‣ Re-grease hub and ensure free-hub body is tight onto hub (which it is – no movement at all)
‣ All looking to be in good condition still
‣ Tweak the tension in the rear spokes and some feel a little loose

17-Oct-2012
20,707Kms
Aksu, China

‣ Replace rear brake-pads – now down to the metal and scraping
‣ Tighten up some loose bolts around the back of the bike – one carrier bolt very loose

21-Oct-2012
21,049Kms
nr Dalaoba, China

‣ Clean front brake callipers and around the pistons as brake is not releasing fully. Use cotton bud with 3-in-1 oil on it to clean in round the back of the pistons
‣ Tighten rear brake disk as all 6 retaining bolts are slightly loose

28-Oct-2012
21,712Kms
nr Turpan, China

‣ Frame cracked today – same place as before. Tried to support joint with 3mm rope piece until it can be welded

29-Oct-2012
21,762Kms
Shanshan, China

‣ Got frame welded today
‣ Also tighten one single very loose spoke in rear wheel

29-Nov-2012
23,634Kms
Chengdu, China

‣ Bike parked up at Matt’s apartment while we return to UK for 10 weeks

15-Feb-2013 to
18-Feb-2013
23,634Kms
Chengdu, China

‣ Return to bike with new frame (this one includes new boom for the first time)
‣ Swap frame with new one
‣ Clean all parts including cranks, chains, chain tubes – all parts!!
‣ Refit the chain which was removed in Almaty at 7200kms (current chain stored for reuse – it has done 4900kms – and not quite stretched to 0.75 just yet)
‣ New rear bottom-bracket included with frame – transfer cranks & tighten lots
‣ Transfer front bottom-bracket & cranks to new frame & tighten lots
‣ Current brake-pads all okay & all pistons appear to be free
‣ New Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres fitted (old front completed approx 12500kms & old rear completed approx 8000kms)
‣ Strip rear hub including removal of free-hub body to check wear on inner hub – nearly perfect! Replace drive-side ball-bearings with new ones and re-grease
‣ Cut some length off rear-derailleur gear cable housing
‣ Lubricate & free-up the front V-brake (gets stiff as never used)
‣ Tubus pannier-rack cracked, so got it re-welded and re-painted at car repair shop

25-Feb-2013
23,832Kms
Wencheng, China

‣ Change freewheel from stokers link-chain on pilot’s crank-arm – old now skipping and failing to engage lots of the time

‣ Got and fitted new tyre & inner-tube for trailer in bike shop in town

13-Mar-2013
24,637Kms
Yihai, China

‣ When tightening a few things, I noticed one front mudguard holding bracket had broken (non-disk-brake side). Couldn’t see a way of fixing the broken part, so zip-tied on the mudguard bracket
‣ Lubed the rear-mech as gear-shifting not so good over last few days since dusty roads near Danba

‣ Fitted new rear light to BOB trailer
‣ Swapped chain on the Pino, back to the one that was taken off in Chengdu
‣ New front brake pads fitted – old ones just starting to rub metal but quite evenly worn

31-Mar-2013
25,575Kms
Nr Yaunyang, China

‣ Swapped chain back to other one as this one slipping a lot on the granny-ring on the hills

19-Apr-2013
26,332Kms
Nr OudomXai, Laos

‣ Fixed front wheel puncture on the inner side of the inner-tube, caused by a raised edge on the rim-tape

‣ Changed chain to un-used spare, to share load on 2 chains
‣ Changed front middle-ring back to old one as new has 2 broken teeth & has not performed well
‣ Cleaned & lubed gear cable for rear derailleur, and clean sheaths as much as possible with 3-in-1 oil
‣ Tightened bottom-bracket into frame to try to stop creaking
‣ Shortened boom length at Tamar’s request

16-Jun-2013
29,662Kms
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

‣ Replace front & rear tyres with spares as both old tyres have developed splits in the sidewall along the rim-line. The rear has not fully worn through just yet, but the front has but luckily not exploded the inner tube just yet. Both tyres completed just over 6,000kms from Chengdu and were reasonably well worn with blue carcass showing through in many places
‣ Used spare security-pin on trailer as lost one from skewer

19-Jun-2013
29,700Kms
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

‣ Got bike cleaned at a motorbike jetwash
‣ Bought a 3rd chain and fitted it today as chain #2 has completed about 1,500kms from Hue in Vietnam. Will try to swap chains every 1,000kms from now on
‣ Got front kick-stand fixed by welding spring-retaining pin, back onto the stand frame (broke a week or 2 ago)

25-Jun-2013
30,205Kms
Nr Sisophon, Cambodia

‣ New front brake pads fitted – old ones rubbing metal fully on one side, but other pad still has a little bit of meat left. Wear on both pads is good and flat. Removed pads done nearly 5,000kms
‣ Noted damaged side-wall of front tyre & then noticed same on rear tyre

25-Jun-2013
30,282Kms
Nr Aranyaprathet, Thailand

‣ Damaged tyre-wall of rear tyre blew out – replaced with folding spare that we’ve carried for over 30,000kms
‣ About 20kms later, the damaged tyre-wall of the front tyre blew out – replaced with the new front we’d bought earlier in the day at bike shop in Cambodia before border crossing

27-Jun-2013
30,482Kms
Nr Bangkok, Thailand

‣ Folding rear tyre failed – side-wall blow out. Temporary fix executed with a big piece of truck inner-tube, then pushed bike for 5kms on half inflated wheel to next bike shop where we bought & fitted a new tyre

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 1200kms. Chain “1” in sequence of 3 going on now. Washed and oiled the 2 chains in storage

23-Jul-2013
31,055Kms
PrachaupKiriKhan, Thailand

‣ Handle-bars becoming rusty so strip off bike, sand down and paint with rust resistant paint
‣ On reassembly, lube brake-levers and gear-shifters as all becoming affected by salt from excessive sweat

24-Aug-2013
31,406Kms
Koh Tao, Thailand

‣ Fix chain after it broke on a hill
‣ Straighten slightly bent rear-mech gear-hanger on frame (gear-hanger not detachable on this frame) (problem noticed when trying to set up gears to run sweet)
‣ fix chain guard ring on chain-set where it had previously got broken by an unshipped chain
‣ Wash bike with extra special attention to link-chain to get it as clean as possible
‣ Lube chains that are in storage

28-Aug-2013
31,437Kms
Chumphon, Thailand

‣ Happen to find a Shimano dealer in town and we have time to kill, so decide to buy a new rear-mech (old one has too much play in and so difficult to tune)
‣ Fit new rear mech and also buy new trigger type gear shifters and hand-grips, so completely change the handle-bar setup while killing time waiting for a train

30-Aug-2013
31,484Kms
Hua Hin, Thailand

‣ Change brake pads on both front and rear as I want to get the oil in the brakes topped up, and this is best done when the pads are at their biggest. Front pads still have lots of meat on them (only done 1,300kms) but rear pads nearly spent (after about 4,100kms)
‣ Remove springs from front forks and put some oil down the tubes to try to make them operate more smoothly
‣ Take Pino to bike shop to get brakes topped up with oil & bled as necessary … and muppet of a mechanic makes the brakes worse than ever and tells me I have air in them that needs to be removed

31-Aug-2013
31,515Kms
Hua Hin, Thailand

‣ Try to bleed front brakes without a magura bleed kit, and spent all day doing so with limited success
‣ Put old front pads back on & return new ones to spares kit
‣ Notice that steering linkage rod universal joint, is stiff and corroded so lubricate and free up

3-Sept-2013
31,562Kms
Hua Hin, Thailand

‣ Got another bike shop in town to try to top up and bleed the brakes. This time the job was done a bit better, brakes now feeling a bit better, but still not as good as they could be

6-Sept-2013
31,776Kms
Prachuap, Thailand

‣ With mineral oil, 2 syringes, rubber pipe & nipple, I now have equivalent of magura bleed kit, so I bleed brakes myself with much better success
‣ Free up front V-brakes which are slightly stiff as never used
‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 850kms. Chain “2” in sequence of 3 going on now. Applied plenty of oil to chain coming off bike before putting into storage

17-Sept-2013
32,457Kms
Hua Sai, Thailand

‣ Rear tyre (Schwalbe Mondial) carcass failed on the side of the tyre and allowed the tube to nudge out and explode. Tyre only completed 1870kms – rubbish performance from expensive tyre. Fitted Thai spare that we were carrying

18-Sept-2013
32,574Kms
Songkhla, Thailand

‣ The steering has become as though there were a self-centring headset which is making the bike difficult to handle. Stripped both headsets to investigate and found lower bearings to be a little tight but cleaned all and applied some lube and all now seems okay
‣ Lubed the axles on the pilot’s pedals

20-Sept-2013
32,681Kms
Pattani, Thailand

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 900kms. Chain “3” in sequence of 3 going on now

13-Oct-2013
33,198Kms
Sungai Petani, Malaysia

‣ Got bike washed with power-washer at car wash, as the chains needed a good blasting clean (with hind-sight, this is a bad idea as it just blows the lube out of lots of places where it’s needed)
‣ Relubed chains as required

14-Oct-2013
33,273Kms
Alor Setar, Malaysia

‣ Rear hub has been getting noisy all day (day after jet-wash) so in evening, stripped it, cleaned bearings, regreased & put back together again. Noted considerable pitting on drive-side cones & bearings
‣ Managed to strip the thread of the pilots non-drive-side crank arm, trying to remove it from the bike – feel like an idiot
‣ During today, the stokers freewheel miss-fired a couple of times(day after jet-wash). First time it’s played up since fitting new freewheel in March

15-Oct-2013
33,302Kms
Malaysia/Thailand border

‣ A link on the final-drive chain broke, causing the chain to be left on the road behind us. Removed broken link with chain-splitter tool and replaced with a split-link – sorted

17-Oct-2013
33,597Kms
Tha Sala, Thailand

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 900kms. Chain “1” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 3rd tour of duty

01-Jan-2014
33,902Kms
Koh Tao, Thailand

‣ Rear tyre changed for another cheap Thai brand. Noted sidewall about to fail in a number of places when fixing standard puncture. Tyre coming off has done 1450kms
‣ Bled both front & rear brakes on bike to improve braking performance and also put new brake pads on front to stiffen them up that little bit more (old pads remain in rear)

21-Jan-2014
34,588Kms
OudomXai, Laos

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 990kms. Chain “2” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 3rd tour of duty

01-Feb-2014
35,139Kms
VangVieng, Laos

‣ Webbing under stoker’s seat failed after rubbing for lots of kms against sharp edge of seat-frame. Temporary fix was done to last till we get to Vientiane. In Vientiane, Tamar sewed a new section of webbing into the strap as a more permanent fix

02-Feb-2014
35,282Kms
Nr Vientiane, Laos

‣ Front wheel puncture, found on the inner face of the inner tube, caused by slightly rough spot on the edge of the rim-tape rubbing a whole in the inner tube

05-Feb-2014
35,392Kms
Nr Vientiane, Laos

‣ Rear tyre puncture and upon removal, noted that tyre wall was about to fail, so changed tyre & inner tube. Tyre coming off has done 1,490kms. Later in day, also got a puncture on rear wheel, caused by displaced rim-tape when seating new (very tight) tyre

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 980kms. Chain “3” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 3rd tour of duty

08-Feb-2014
35,812Kms
Savannahaket, Laos

‣ Cheap Chinese rear tyre blow out after just 280kms. Replaced with spare one taken off 2 days ago

11-Feb-2014
36,097Kms
Salavan, Laos

‣ Steering getting loose owing to wear where connecting-rod joins forks, so made some shims from old beer can to try to fill the space – quite a good fit achieved

18-Feb-2014
36,589Kms
Yasothan, Thailand

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 1024kms. Chain “1” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 4th tour of duty

24-Feb-2014
37,140Kms
Bang Munnak, Thailand

‣ Similar to back in September, the steering has become as though there were a self-centring headset which is making the bike difficult to handle. Removed lower bearing on forks headset and found it to be a little tight so cleaned & lubed as best as possible, may need to get new bearings at some point
‣ While working at bike, noted rear tyre starting to bulge where sidewall damage is weakening it, so decided to swap tyre for a new one to avoid a blowout in the next day or 2

26-Feb-2014
37,384Kms
Thung Saliam, Thailand

‣ Rear wheel has been creaking for quite a few days now and I was hoping it would go away but it hasn’t and now the cones are getting too loose, so stripped the hub and cleaned the drive-side bearings & cones. It was quite dirty with quite a lot of gritty muck, so the creaking was hardly a surprise. Will probably replace whole hub next week

28-Feb-2014
37,567Kms
Ban Hong, Thailand

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 978kms. Chain “2” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 4th tour of duty
‣ Noted excessive wear on stoker’s link chain

12-Mar-2014
37,761Kms
Hang Dong, Thailand

‣ Rebuilt rear-wheel onto new hub using old spokes & rim. Cones & bearings in old hub had become badly worn after 26,000kms of use, meanwhile we’ve been carrying a spare hub since returning to China 14,000kms ago, so it was time to replace
‣ Got little “feet” welded onto the bicycle stand and then covered the metal feet with a cut from an old tyre. This should stop bike sinking in softer ground and the cuts of old tyre should stop it sliding on slippery surfaces
‣ Replaced stokers freewheel unit (and the crank that I ripped the threads out of a few months ago). Got local garage to use big “puller” thing to get the crank off – damn it was tight

14-Mar-2014
37,800Kms
Hang Dong, Thailand

‣ Put new stoker’s link-chain onto bike (requires 3 standard length chains) and reversed chain-rings. That coming off has done 26,000kms and is a bit stretched. New chain on old rings seems to be working okay
‣ Replaced rear brake pads, old ones rubbing metal on one side. Both old pads nice & evenly worn, just a bit of meat left on one side. Those coming off have done 6,250kms which is pretty good. Those going on are an old set with a little bit of meat left and are not expected to last very long

‣ Felt a wobble coming up from the rear wheel and upon investigation, it was the tyre sidewall starting to tear, so time to change. Tyre coming off has done about 1,451kms as per expected performance
‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 1,024kms. Chain “3” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 4th tour of duty

24-Mar-2014
38,612Kms
Kanchanaburi, Thailand

‣ Got rear wheel puncture, hole found on the inside of the inner tube. This is due to tight tyre moving the rim-tape. Bought new rim-tape later in the day – will fit it with next puncture or tyre change

30-Mar-2014
39,071Kms
Bang Saphan, Thailand

‣ Replaced rear brake pads, old ones rubbing metal on one side. Old pads fairly evenly worn, just a bit of meat left on one side. Those coming off were nearly worn out when put on yet managed to do 1,271kms. Those going on are again an old set but with quite a lot of meat left so should last a reasonable time

05-Apr-2014
39,526Kms
Khao Sok, Thailand

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 935kms. Chain “1” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 5th tour of duty

09-Apr-2014
39,716Kms
Krabi, Thailand

‣ Rear tyre blow out – side-wall split just 2kms after setting off in the morning. Tyre coming off has done 1,125kms – not as good as normal and may be due to higher pressure used this time around. Replaced tyre & tube and fitted new rim-tape, then carried on

11-Apr-2014
39,810Kms
Hat Yao, Thailand

‣ Old skirt mudguard (behind front wheel) is falling apart, so cut a new one from a nylon bag we picked up from the roadside the other day
‣ Do a couple of bits of general lubrication where dripping sweat may be causing nuts & bolts & hinges to seize up, and oil chain after some kms in heavy rain a few days ago

17-Apr-2014
40,197Kms
Alor Setar, Malaysia

‣ Gear-shift on rear derailleur gone very stiff. On investigation the cable is fraying from the nipple in the trigger shifter. Have spare cable so stop in petrol station and fit new cable into existing sheath. Gear-shift becomes really stiff despite new cable being lubed. Do my best to adjust the indexing, but operation is awful. The cable is not a Shimano part and I think is more coarse
‣ Got puncture on trailer tyre. While fixing, note that tyre is in the process of failing so urgently need a replacement

18-Apr-2014
40,278Kms
Butterworth, Malaysia

‣ Gear-shift been awful all day. Find a good bike-shop and buy a full new cable & sheath. Opt for expensive, anti-rust coated cable and go for single length of sheath and do not use cable stops on the frame. Gear-shift is now delightful
‣ Get a new tyre for the trailer and also fix another puncture. Old tyre had completed 15,700kms

22-Apr-2014
40,290Kms
Georgetown, Malaysia

‣ Felt a wobble coming up from the rear wheel and upon investigation, it was the tyre sidewall starting to tear, so time to change. Tyre coming off has done only 574kms, pretty bad performance but it was a cheap 2nd hand tyre

26-Apr-2014
40,349Kms
Simpang Ampat, Malaysia

‣ Third occasion now where the steering has become as though there were a self-centring headset which is making the bike difficult to handle. Removed lower bearing on forks headset and cleaned & lubed. Managed to flip a plastic cover off it and clean quite well and refilled with clean grease

03-May-2014
40,459Kms
Taiping, Malaysia

‣ Front Mech broke today. A little metal grub holding the return-spring in place, broke off and thus the return-spring no longer works. Managed to find a new mech in the 3rd bike-shop we tried and he fitted it. Seems it’s only for a double, but it seems to be working well

04-May-2014
40,550Kms
Ipoh, Malaysia

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 1024kms. Chain “2” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 5th tour of duty
‣ The non-drive side pilot’s pedal is making a creaking noise, so took the end-cap off the axle and ran some oil through it before packing some grease into it

06-May-2014
40,718Kms
Rawang, Malaysia

‣ Felt a wobble coming up from the rear wheel and upon investigation, it was the tyre sidewall starting to tear, so time to change. Tyre coming off has done only 428kms, pretty bad performance but it was a cheap 2nd hand tyre again

14-May-2014
40,999Kms
Malaka, Malaysia

‣ Changed front tyre as the current Schwalbe is now down through the rubber and the threads are starting to show. The tyre has completed 10,412kms since Bangkok last year – good performance. Fitted Deestone (Thai brand) spare that has previously done just a few kms last year

16-May-2014
41,007Kms
Malaka, Malaysia

‣ Trailer tyre puncture fixed – had picked up a shard of wire
‣ Added a drop of oil to the pivot-points of the Thud-Buster seat post to stop the squeaking that was driving Tamar mad

28-May-2014
41,402Kms
Tekek, Malaysia

‣ Changed rear tyre as old one down to threads within the carcass. Tyre coming off has only done 684kms – pretty poor performance again

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 1304kms. Chain “3” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 5th tour of duty
‣ Changed front tyre as current one starting to split along the sidewall. The old tyre has done between 900 & 1000kms
‣ Replaced front brake pads as brake-lever coming up too far. Put new pads in the front (may be the first time in about 8,000kms) and transferred the old front-part-worn pads to the rear
‣ Replaced rear brake pads (with those off front wheel) also as brake-lever coming up too far. Old rear pads have done 2783kms but were part-worn when they went on – there was still a little meat left, but not wearing evenly
‣ Steering getting loose owing to wear where connecting-rod joins forks (same as problem 6,000kms ago in Laos) so made 3 new shims from old beer can to fill the space – quite a good fit achieved and play in steering 95% eliminated
‣ Cleaned link-chain & rest of transmission
‣ Cleaned brakes with cotton bud
‣ Old skirt mudguard (behind front wheel) is falling apart, so cut a new one from a rubber sheeting we picked up from the roadside the other day

06-Nov-2014
42,003Kms
Mersing, Malaysia

‣ Left sandy island now, so re-clean both chains & drive-train to remove all sand & grit
‣ Brake-levers still coming up too far, so bleed both brakes and add a bit more mineral-oil to system. First appearances seems to have worked well, but perhaps I just need new disks which would be slightly thicker without 30,000kms of use on them

10-Nov-2014
42,144Kms
Muadzam Shah, Malaysia

‣ Changed rear tyre as old one down to threads within the carcass. Tyre coming off has only done 742kms. New one is TKR brand, 26×1.95

16-Nov-2014
42,390Kms
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

‣ Fitted new Ergon handgrips as rubber on old grips has become perished and is sticky & horrible and peeling off. Old grips been on the bike for nearly 11,000kms since Aug-2013

26-Nov-2014
42,565Kms
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

‣ Fitted new front & rear Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres which were mail ordered from UK (correct size not available in Malaysia). Neither old tyre fully worn out, but rear was wearing quickly. Old front had done 711kms & rear 421kms. New tyres fitted in advance of trip to China where local tyres would probably be less reliable

28-Nov-2014
42,585Kms
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

‣ Strip bike to pack into boxes for flight to China. Do some minor servicing while stripping

29-Nov-2014
42,585Kms
Guilin airport, China

‣ Rebuild bike after flight
‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done only 731kms but I want next chain on the bike for cycling in China. Chain “1” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 6th tour of duty
‣ During rebuild, note that rear headset is very crunchy, so decide to remove & clean the 2 bearings but in doing so, I manage to split open the sealed units – difference between right tools and wrong tools. Anyway, clean them up, grease them, then replace them – should last another while yet

16-Dec-2014
43,528Kms
Guiyang, China

‣ Trailer tyre puncture fixed – had picked up a shard of wire

22-Dec-2014
43,694Kms
Leshan, China

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 1109kms through some very tough hills. Chain “2” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 6th tour of duty
‣ New pilot’s pedals put onto bike as old one have lost all their balls

10-Jan-2015
43,926Kms
Chengdu, China

‣ Strip & clean rear hub and reassemble with new grease. This is the first service for this hub since new and fitted in Thailand, 6,125kms ago. The hub is still running nicely but the drive-side grease was quite dirty and good to get it changed
‣ Re-cut the beer-can shims for the steering connector rod to stop the movement – this was last done just over 2,100kms ago, so I hope this fix will last longer

07-Feb-2015
44,517Kms
Simpang Ampat, Malaysia

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 823kms. Chain “3” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 6th tour of duty

20-Feb-2015
44,665Kms
Pulau Penang, Malaysia

‣ Chain broke (a link separated and damaged the link-plate) while cycling round Penang Island. Had to push home over 30kms as didn’t have chain splitter with us. Fixed later with a new split-link

03-Mar-2015
45,008Kms
Nr Ringlet, Malaysia

‣ Rear mech gear cable broke. Replaced with spare from kit, tuned gears and carried on. Old cable was expensive Teflon coated Shimano fitted last April and had only done 4,730kms

10-Mar-2015
45,359Kms
Jakarta, Indonesia

‣ Trailer tyre changed as old one down to threads in one place, so change now before tyre blows. One coming off only done one year, or about 5,000kms

12-Mar-2015
45,476Kms
Cianjur, Indonesia

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 959kms. Chain “1” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 7th tour of duty

14-Mar-2015
45,656Kms
Tarikmalaya, Indonesia

‣ Strip & clean rear hub and reassemble with new grease. Last hub service carried out 1730kms ago but odd noises coming from the rear of the bike, so hoping hub clean may fix noises. Old grease on both sides of hub pretty clean, but replaced none the less

23-Mar-2015
46,366Kms
Probolinggo, Indonesia

‣ Changed rear chain on bike. One coming off has done 890kms. Chain “2” in sequence of 3 going on now for its 7th tour of duty